CHAPTER 105: AN OATH OF ASH AND TRUTH

The heavy, sound-proofed door of the antechamber clicked shut, plunging us into a world of shadow and flickering firelight. The chaotic, festive energy of the wedding ceremony faded into a distant, muffled hum, leaving only the two of us in the tense, suffocating silence. A single, glowing firecrystal, suspended in the center of the room, cast long, dancing shadows on the dark, volcanic stone walls. My own body was still wreathed in the faint, shimmering golden light of the mana oath, a visible testament to the truth I was about to speak.

"Your mother and father were killed," I began, my voice a low, steady murmur that cut through the silence like a blade. "And I know you know that, too. These lies, these convenient stories of a tragic, natural accident... they are a flimsy, pathetic veil, a story so full of holes that even a child with a functioning brain could see through it."

I watched as her crimson eyes, which had been so full of a cold, regal fury, now widened with a dawning, horrified surprise.

"First, your father," I continued, my voice a cold, dispassionate litany of a truth she had long suspected but never dared to voice. "He was killed when he went for a summit with the Vampire Kingdom. They told the world it was an ambush, a tragic, unforeseen act of aggression. But there was no ambush. He was poisoned. A rare, untraceable toxin that mimics the effects of a heart attack, administered by a hand he trusted."

"And then, your mother," I said, my voice dropping to a low, almost sympathetic whisper. "She was declared dead in her own room. They said she was in a state of profound depression, that she had taken her own life. But she wasn’t in depression. She was a warrior, a queen who had just lost her king. She was grieving, yes. But she was also investigating. And she was getting too close to the truth."

Lilith’s fists clenched at her sides, her knuckles white, her body trembling with a barely suppressed rage. "I know all this," she hissed, her voice a low, dangerous growl. "Just tell me who it was."

I looked at her then, my own gaze steady and unwavering. "Your uncle," I said, the words a quiet, simple statement in the tense, silent room. "And your aunt."

"What?" she breathed, her own voice a mixture of shock and a dawning, horrified disbelief. "That... that can never be the case."

"Anything can be the case when it comes to power, Lilith."

"But my uncle..." she whispered, her own voice a fragile, trembling thing as she clung to the memory of a man she had once loved. "He considered his brother, my father, as a guiding light. He was always his shadow, fighting by his side, protecting him. There is no way..."

"People can change," I said, my own voice a quiet, almost gentle murmur. "And the reason he changed was your aunt. She manipulated him. She tormented him. She whispered poison into his ear, telling him he was a loser, a failure, a pale shadow of his more powerful, more beloved brother. And in the end, he broke. And he committed a grave, unforgivable sin."

"That’s... but..." she stammered, her own mind a chaotic battlefield of conflicting emotions, her words failing her.

"I don’t have any physical proof," I admitted, my voice a low, honest murmur, the golden light of my mana oath a silent, unwavering testament to the truth of my words. "But I am telling you the truth. Your uncle is not innocent. He has had the blood of his own brother on his hands for years. And he won’t stop now. His next target... is you."

She said nothing, but I could see it in her eyes—the dawning horror, the grief, the rage, and the new, terrible fire that was beginning to burn in their crimson depths. "Then," she finally whispered, her voice a low, dangerous thing, "I will have to change his plans. I will have my revenge."

She looked at me then, her own eyes, which had been so full of a cold, regal fury, now filled with a strange, unwilling gratitude. "Thank you," she said, her voice a low, emotional murmur. "You don’t know what this means to me. This politics, this queen thing... I never wanted it. I only ever needed my revenge. And now... now it is not so far away. So thank you."

"A ’thank you’ won’t do," I said, a slow, cold smile touching my lips. "Have you forgotten? This was a trade."

She had a smile of her own then, a flash of her old, confident self returning. "What is it you want, Ashen Crimson?"

I turned toward her, my own expression a mask of cool, calculated confidence. "I need you to support me. Today."

"What does that mean?"

"Today," I said, my own voice a low, commanding whisper. "This wedding. I am going to annul it. And I will need your support when the inevitable chaos ensues."

She looked at me then, a new, more practical fear in her eyes. "You know what a risk you are taking, don’t you? Even if I protect you here, in this cathedral, there is no guarantee that you will be safe outside of it. The Knight Commander’s wrath is not a thing to be taken lightly."

"I know," I said, my own voice a calm, steady murmur. "But it is the only way." I leaned in, my own voice a low, conspiratorial whisper. "Just listen to the plan."

I told her everything. The fake marriage. The ancient, binding laws of the Dragon Kingdom. The way we would use their own traditions against them. I didn’t disclose every detail, every contingency, but I gave her enough to see the beautiful, reckless, and utterly insane logic of my plan.

And as I spoke, her expression, which had been so full of a grim, serious concern, began to change. A slow, dangerous, and utterly beautiful smile spread across her face.

"Who is that girl?" she asked, her own voice a low, amused murmur. "The one you are risking everything to protect?"

"To be honest," I admitted, my own voice a low, honest whisper, "I don’t really know."

She laughed then, a genuine, unrestrained sound that seemed to fill the small, silent chamber with a new, more dangerous energy. "I knew it," she said, her crimson eyes twinkling with a strange, new light. "You are an interesting man, Ashen Crimson."

And as she spoke, the golden, shimmering light of my mana oath, its one-hour duration now complete, flickered and vanished, the bond between my soul and my mana returning to its natural state. The Chapter of our negotiation had just ended. And a new, far more dangerous one, the Chapter of our alliance, was just beginning.